This plantation shutter slat 4-1/2" - 1 measure 4.500" wide by .562" thickness. The beautiful pattern is used to construct elegant interior window coverings; tilt rods for moving these when assembled are at the beginning pages of this category. The top and bottom profile comprise a 3/4" wide straight flat line in the middle, flanked by a 1-7/8" wide, 4.145-degree beveled line that transitions into a 5/32" radius half-circle on each edge of the design. This professionally drafted cad dxf file contains two high precision template designs to create cutters for this functional detail, one for the top and bottom and the other for the left and right. The left and right cutters are designed axial constant with two profiles in a sixty-millimeter cutter head. These blade positions can be swapped when the knives become dull, saving time in production.

Some louver manufacturers mill these profiles on the top and bottom horizontal cutter heads. Our concern with this machining approach is that you have ninety-degree cuts where the top and bottom cutters cross each other on each side edge of the design. This leads to overheating the knives, decreasing production run times between sharpening; it is also where your eyes will be when the window covering is opened in the horizontal position. Larger cutting circles on the machinery will force you to open bedplates and chip breakers while simultaneously causing snipe on the finished molding. Trust us; four milling stations are easy to mill louver slats. It will cost more money on tooling and more time to set up the machinery. You will have far less machining trouble in the long run, and your product will be superior to those mills doing it the less expensive way.

For knife quoting purposes use the calculator below; we have added only the important measurements. A brief detailed explanation of how to use the calculator is located here.

Width = 4.500" / Depth of Cut = .156" (top knives) & .156" (bottom cutters).

Thickness = 1.625" / Depth of Cut = .288" (right blades) & .288" (left cutters).